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Exeter Chiefs sting Munster late in Sandy Park thriller
Seventeen points from Henry Slade proved the difference as Exeter defeated Munster 32-24 to register their second narrow Champions Cup victory in as many weeks.
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Having secured a 19-18 triumph at Toulon last weekend thanks to a last-minute conversion from Slade, they needed a remarkable rally on Sunday with Munster having looked in control when they led 24-13 after 65 minutes.
Dan Frost, Jack Dunne, Ross Vintcent and Slade scored the Chiefs’ tries, with Slade converting three and adding two penalties in front of more than 13,000 at Sandy Park.
Tom Ahern, Calvin Nash, Antoine Frisch and Shane Daly scored Munster’s tries, with Jack Crowley kicking two conversions.
Munster took a sixth-minute lead following a frenetic opening, their forwards exerting sustained pressure before a superb 30-metre pass from scrum-half Craig Casey gave Nash a simple run-in.
The hosts soon responded with their first try. A break from full-back Tommy Wyatt, well supported by locks Rusi Tuima and Dafydd Jenkins, took Chiefs into the opposition 22, from where Frost forced his way over.
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Slade’s conversion brought the sides level so it was 7-7 at the end of an evenly contested first quarter.
Munster regained the lead thanks to an alert piece of play from Crowley. The outside half saw the hosts’ cover was lacking on the right flank so he chipped the ball forward for Ahern to collect and gallop 45 metres to the line.
Slade reduced the arrears with a 40-metre penalty but his side immediately bungled the restart and Munster were back in the home 22, where they made Chiefs pay.
Clever inter-play between Ahern, Casey and Daly culminated in a long pass from Daly which provided Frisch with an unopposed run to the line. Crowley converted and his side held a deserved 19-10 interval lead.
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Slade kept Exeter in contention with his second penalty four minutes after the restart, but Munster soon scored their bonus-point try.
Match Summary 
2
Penalty Goals
0
4
Tries
4
3
Conversions
2
0
Drop Goals
0
119
Carries
146
7
Line Breaks
14
13
Turnovers Lost
15
3
Turnovers Won
7
A break from Frisch sent Diarmuid Barron on a run deep into the hosts’ 22, from where the ball was recycled for Daly to score.
Exeter immediately responded by sending on five replacements in a bid to galvanise their efforts and, within three minutes, two more followed.
Slade had a chance to kick a simple three points but Chiefs opted for an attacking line-out and it proved the wrong call as the visitors kept their line intact.
However, Exeter were able to maintain the pressure and were rewarded when replacement Vintcent crashed over under the posts.
A minute later, the game turned on its head when Exeter scored a second. Nash was all at sea in dealing with an awkwardly bouncing ball and it fell into the hands of Dunne, who gratefully touched down, with Slade’s conversion giving the home side a three-point lead going into the final 10 minutes.
Exeter were fortunate to escape a yellow card for Harvey Skinner’s challenge on Crowley, but Slade then intercepted a Conor Murray pass before running 50 metres to secure a valuable five points.
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments